Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Festive Menudo Recipe

And just like that Christmas is over. You must be ready for the New Year.

Well, as for me, I'm not. Still contemplating whether to go or not to go to see the NYE fireworks in Burj Khalifa in Downtown Dubai. (Oh oh! here we go again)

...and still working on our new years eve menu while trying to finish all the leftover food from last Christmas dinner.

We still have some of this delicious Menudo in the fridge. I cooked about a kilo and that's a lot for a family of four but it was actually done on purpose.

Menudo is Philippines traditional meat stew. It can be pork, beef or chicken. Unlike its counterpart in Mexico that uses tripe and chili, our Menudo dish uses lean meat, some pork belly, and liver. Menudo is not an everyday dish. It is mostly cooked for special occasions like birthdays, baptism, fiesta and yes Christmas or New Year.

Menudo is a very easy and simple stew recipe but it requires marinating the meat overnight or at least 4 hours with calamansi or lemon and soy sauce, some salt and pepper and a dash of vinegar before cooking. Vinegar is used as a preserving agent so your Menudo will not spoil quite easily.

Menudo is a staple dish in our house every Christmas because it's Ferald's favorite festive dish. It is that one dish that he asks me to cook year after year and never gets tired of it. I can't blame him, it's one of Filipinos festive dishes anyway and my favorite too. It is also one of those dishes that I learned to cook well from my father. This is actually his Menudo recipe or as close as it can get.

I still remember having Menudo leftovers that last for a week. It doesn't get spoiled even it's not in the fridge. My mom would reheat it over and over until the meat resembles that of pulled pork strips. It's delicious like that and best eaten with garlic fried rice for breakfast. (the rice for breakfast, it's kind of an Asian thing)

For this recipe you will need:

1 kilo or 2.2 lbs of pork meat with a little bit of fat (choose pork leg, shoulder or loin) and ask the butcher to cut it into small cubes

1/4 kilo or 250 grams pork liver, you can also use the liver spread as an alternative or additional. cubed and marinated in 1/4 lemon slice juices, 2 tbsp soy sauce and salt and pepper

Parboil your meat in its marinade for about half an hour, then separate the meat from the juices, set aside. Add 1 laurel leaf and 1/2 cup water to your meat before boiling it.

In a stew pot, sauté your garlic

and chopped onions until fragrant

Add the pork meat, sauté until you hear the meat sizzling.

While you're waiting to hear the sizzle, parboil the liver in its marinade in another pan.

Add it to your meat, add the chopped sausage and sauté together. Pour in Mama Sita's tomato sauce and stir. Add 1 cup of water and let it simmer.

Add the carrots and potatoes.

Your sauce will look watery at this point. Wait till the potatoes cook. The starch from the potato will help thicken your sauce.

Let it simmer until the potatoes and carrots are partly cooked.

before adding your bell peppers. Peppers gives your dish its sweetness and color. It is also rich in vitamin C so it's good for you. We are adding the bell peppers last because it cooks fast.

Add oregano, salt, and pepper to taste. Adjust the saltiness to your liking. Add more water if you see the dish is getting too thick, let it simmer for a few more minutes until it thickens again.

Some people add green peas and raisins to their Menudo but Ferald doesn't like it that's why it's not included in this recipe. Adding peas will add more color to your dish making it look more festive. You can even add cheese for a richer Menudo. You can always tweak it to suit your taste.

Here's my Festive Pork Menudo with Mama Sita's Tomato Sauce.

Serve it in a pretty bowl, look at your work and rejoice! Take a snap, share and make sure you tag me.

Serve it with steamed rice and enjoy! I'm sure your family and friends are going to love it.

Thank you Mama Sita's for sponsoring this post.

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About Me

Carla is a lifestyle blogger based in Dubai who's thankful to call this ever-evolving city her second home. The pages of this blog are filled with stories about her and her family's expat life in the sandpit. It mostly features dining and travel adventures in and around the city and beyond. It also features food recipes, parenting tips, and her own fashion style.